A sign reading, "Join Wawa, " posted on the site of the 9.8-acre site of the former Patterson Chevrolet. Delco Development hopes to build a Wawa there with a convenience store and gas station.
(Mike Davis/ The Times of Trenton )

HAMILTON — A gas station owner is suing the town, alleging that a recent ordinance change was intended to appease developers looking to build a Wawa convenience store and gas station near his business.

Walter Steele, owner of a BP station on Route 33, filed suit on May 31, six weeks after the council amended a land development ordinance that previously prohibited new gas stations from opening within 1,500 feet of existing stations.

The township council voted 4-1 in April to remove the 1,500-foot restriction after two developers said they were considering building "super" Wawas in the township that would have both a convenience store and fueling station.

Township attorney Lindsay Burbage told council members that the township would likely lose any lawsuit filed over the distance restriction that was in place at the time.

“Based on past cases throughout New Jersey, having this distance limitation is not a defensible position,” township business administrator John Ricci said today. “It’s inappropriate to have it in the township ordinance.”

In the lawsuit, Steele's attorney R. William Potter argues that the ordinance change was "intended to advance and comply with the wishes of developers of convenience stores with sales of gasoline on two properties."

“There’s sound law and very sound public policy regarding these separation ordinances,” Potter said in an interview. “This lawsuit is really something that my client does not want to have to pursue. I would hope that we never have to litigate this case, that we will be able to persuade the council to reconsider and reinstate some reasonable form of the ordinance that was repealed.”

Attorneys representing Wawa developers initiated the conversation over the controversial restriction, but the legal and planning departments verified their argument that it was legally unsound before the township moved to change it, Ricci said.

“The case law is there. It’s not as though the only reason we’re doing this is because they brought it to our attention,” Ricci said.

Last week the planning board delayed a vote on an application by Hamilton Crosswicks 130 LLC for a Wawa at the site of the former Harry's Army and Navy store on Route 130.

The zoning board has scheduled a special meeting for July 23 to hear an application from Delco Development, which wants to construct a Wawa on part of the former Patterson Chevrolet site, about 1,500 feet from Steele's BP station.

Though the project has not been approved, Delco Development has posted signs on the property enticing other businesses to "Join Wawa" in the development.